


Her Sincere Handmaiden

by aflawedfashion



Category: Defiance (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/F, Femslash, Handmaidens, Romance, in this fic they are both alive and flirting, they have hardly shared screen time and they're both dead... in canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-26 00:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10775460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aflawedfashion/pseuds/aflawedfashion
Summary: Christie realizes she's never given proper attention to her handmaiden, Andina.





	Her Sincere Handmaiden

Christie Tarr dropped onto the bench beside her vanity, her eyelids already drooping, threatening to glue themselves closed before she had even removed her makeup. With every tick of the clock, she cared less about anything that kept her from sleep. No matter how many servants she had attending to her every need, life with a toddler was rarely glamorous, and it was always exhausting.

As if on cue, Andina softly stepped into her room. “Good evening, Favi,” she said as she set Christie's pajamas beside her. 

Christie nodded politely, sending Andina a smile of gratitude through the mirror. When Andina first became Christie's handmaiden, Christie told her she didn't need someone to dote on her every day, that she could still do basic tasks for herself, but Andina persisted. She claimed these tasks were her duties as a handmaiden, and performing her duties to the best of her abilities made her happy. Christie couldn't shake her skepticism over that statement, but she accepted it anyway and stopped fighting against her. 

“Lovely evening,” Andina said as she prepared Christie's room.

“Yes, it is,” Christie answered as succinctly as possible, unwilling to engage in mundane small talk that would drag her evening on.

“I hope you did not get caught in the rain this morning.”

“I didn't. Thank you.”

“It is so warm, and the rain will be good for the plants. Rayetsu has truly blessed us with such fine weather.”

“Yes, he has.”

“I only wish he would bless us in winter.” A smile tugged at Andina’s lips. “He seems to take such a long holiday each year.”

A joke. Christie reflected Andina’s smile back at her, wondering if joking with her was one of Andina's duties as a handmaiden too, a part of the good Casti act she put on every day. Did they tell the handmaidens in their training that making inoffensive jokes helped strengthen a false bond?

“I know I'm repeating myself, but your hair is very beautiful,” Andina said as she picked up a brush and ran It through Christie’s long, black hair. “Every day you look more like a princess with elegant, flowing hair.”

“Thank you,” Christie automatically replied, hardly hearing the compliment. One thing she knew for certain was that all handmaidens in the Tarr house were trained to be kind to her, to make her feel like royalty. Flattery was constant, but hollow. 

Andina rested a hand on Christie’s shoulder, urging her to meet her gaze through the mirror. “I mean it.” She smiled politely, careful to keep her demure Casti facade. “You are one of the most beautiful women I have ever known.” 

A blush burned at Christie's cheeks that she desperately willed away. “How did you know I didn’t believe you?”

“When your husband or even a stranger compliments you, you smile. When I do, you seem bored. You still seem to think I am in insincere with you.”

“That's not true,” Christie lied, suddenly feeling like a terrible person. Andina had been her handmaiden for so long, yet she treated her more like a mysterious, unknowable creature than a person she saw almost every day. Christie knew she had started taking the handmaidens for granted, but so much had happened over the last few years that she felt justified. At least she used to feel justified. Omec invasions and V.C. attacks left her focused solely on protecting her son, but she knew that was a flimsy excuse now. It had been months since life in Defiance had calmed down, yet she still made no effort to know Andina better.

“I can handle the truth,” Andina said, her eyes focused on Christie's hair as she continued to brush it. “You never need to lie to me to protect my feelings.”

Christie furrowed her brow. “May I speak freely with you?”

“Of course. I am bound to you. I could never betray you.”

“That's exactly why I don't trust your sincerity,” Christie said with complete honesty before quickly becoming flustered. The comment had come out far harsher than she intended. “It's not personal,” she added quickly, trying to salvage her words. “Every servant in this house is very kind, but it's your job to say those things to me. How can I believe them?”

“I cannot speak for the others, but you can always believe what I say. My family taught me well, and they did not practice false flattery, only politeness. It is always possible to be kind and polite without lying, without false flattery.” 

Christie shook her head almost imperceptibly as she struggled to believe Andina. “Doesn't Stahma expect you to tell her she has beautiful hair no matter what you really think?”

“But she does have beautiful hair. She is a gorgeous woman.”

“And if she got a bad haircut, would you still tell her she was beautiful?

“Stahma could never not be beautiful.”

Christie furrowed her brow as she turned around, searching Andina’s eyes for the truth. She expected Andina to bow and look away, but she did not. She held Christie’s gaze with amusement. 

Christie let out a breath. “You really are telling the truth.”

“Of course. Everyone here is so beautiful, the food so delicious. I never have to lie about that.” Andina took a wisp of Christie’s hair in her hands, arranging it over her shoulder. “When I was a child, I could only dream of a life like this, never imaging it could be a reality.”

“You really love it? Being a handmaiden?”

“I know it must be hard for you to imagine, coming from a wealthy human family, but I do. Becoming a handmaiden is a great honor for Castithan women in situations such as mine. To become a handmaiden in a wealthy family ensures safety, warmth, protection. There is no promise of any of that for a young woman on her own with no money, and that's where I would be if Favi Stahma hadn't shown me such remarkable kindness.”

“I guess I can understand that.”

“But not entirely.”

“No.” Christie twisted her hands in her lap. “Sometimes it still seems like I’m living in a completely different world, not in a house only a few blocks from where I played as a child when Amanda and Kenya were my babysitters.”

“Do you like living in our world, among Castithans?” 

“I do,” she responded without hesitation. “Even though I still struggle to adjust to some things, I love it. I really do.”

“I knew you did!” Andina smiled excitedly as she set the brush on the vanity and sat beside Christie, her demeanor completely transformed as if Christie had said the magic words to unlock Andina’s personal side. “Some of the other handmaidens, they think you must be uncomfortable, but I can tell you are happy here.” 

“How?”

“You have become so strong,” Andina inched closer to Christie as she took her hands in her own, “strong like Stahma.”

“I could never be as strong as her.” Christie looked down, trying to hide the blush once again forming on her cheeks. She didn't know why Andina was having this effect on her.

“No, you are, but in a different way.” She gently squeezed Christie's hands. “You are strong, but you are not cruel.” 

Christie’s smile fell, but she forced herself to look into Andina’s eyes. “I have done things you don’t know about.” 

“I know about Treasure Doll,” Andina stated so calmly that Christie could not find any hint of emotion in her face. No judgement, no pity, no joy. Her words seemed to be nothing more than a statement of fact.

“How did you…” 

“The other servants, they whispered about the incident in the arch frequently when I first came here. She was your husband’s lover. I understand that human marriage comes with an oath of fidelity, one that she and your husband broke, and a broken oath must not go unpunished.” 

Christie shook her head. “No, it wasn’t about that. I’ve come to believe that monogamy isn’t the measure of a happy marriage.” 

“It is a very strange way of measuring happiness.”

“I realized very quickly, before I even knew about Deirdre and Alak, that it was foolish to expect Alak and me never to have desires outside of our marriage. My father, hell even many of my friends, they would never understand that Castithan way, but I do.”

“I’ve always found humans quite foolish in that regard, but my father’s generation was quite foolish too. They believed that only men should have desires outside of their marriage, and the women who had the same desires as men were seen as bringing great shame to their liro. Now, Castithan women are becoming so much more liberated. Our generation is not like Stahma’s, but even her husband has learned that she has the same needs as he does. So much is changing for the better.”

“I think that’s one of the best changes this new world has brought us.”

“Me too,” Andina said as her thumb stroked the side of Christie's hand. “I’m glad to know that you, _especially_ _you_ , haven’t fallen for those old world lies.” 

Christie felt her cheeks grow warm again. “No, I haven’t,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper as her heart unexpectedly beat faster.

Andina bowed her head slightly, never breaking her gaze away from Christie's. “Good.” 

“Yes,” Christie said, fighting to hold back the giddy grin threatening to break out across her face. “It is.”

“Now that we are friends… we are friends, yes?”

“Yeah, I think we are,” Christie said as a small voice in the back of her mind wondered how it could feel so right to befriend Andina so quickly, but it didn't feel quickly at all. It felt natural. Christie had taken a painfully long time to see what was in front of her all along, that all those moments between them that she assumed were false Casti kindness had actually been genuine.

Andina’s smile transformed into the most honest grin Christie had ever seen from her, but Andina quickly fought to regain her composure, her face growing serious as she prepared to speak. “Then may I ask what really happened with Treasure Doll?”

“I… Treasure Doll...” Christie found herself fighting to form a coherent thought against the butterflies that had formed in her stomach and the fog clouding her mind. “It was about something else she did, something she did to me.” 

“If she hurt you, you had every right for vengeance under Castithan law.” 

“I do not feel bad about it.” 

“You shouldn't.” 

“Thank you,” Christie said as a weight she didn't know she was still carrying fell away. “I think I needed to hear that from someone who wasn't…”

“Stahma.”

“Yes. I love her, but she…” Christie couldn't bring herself to say a word against her mother in law, especially to Andina. Christie knew Andina had a bit of a crush on Stahma, but that wasn't unusual. It was no secret that many servants found Stahma attractive, but Andina was also a favorite of Stahma’s. They were close, and she didn't want to offend Andina when she herself looked up to Stahma in so many ways.

“You don't need to say anything else. I understand.” Andina tilted her head slightly to the side, a coy smile playing across her lips as a lock of hair fell over her shoulder.

Christie brushed Andina's silky, white hair back over her shoulder, letting her hand linger a moment too long at the base of her neck before grazing her fingers lightly along Andina's arm as she brought her hand back to her own lap. “You seem to understand me so well, and yet for so long, I thought you were faking your affection. I am truly sorry I never gave you the attention you deserve.”

“You do not need to be sorry.”

“No, I do, and I need to make up for that. It took only minutes of talking with you to see that that you're a beautiful, kind woman who I want to know better, who I think-”

“Andina,” Stahma called from the other room, cutting off Christie’s words.

Christie froze as reality rushed over her, and a look of disappointment crossed Andina's face. She never thought she'd see Andina disappointed to be called by Stahma.

“Go,” Christie said, placing her hand on Andina’s thigh, just above her knee. “But come back when you’re done with Stahma. I’d like to keep… keep talking to you.”

“I’d like that too,” Andina said, bowing her head as she left the room with a smile. 

Christie turned back to the mirror, her hands almost shaking as she gathered her hair to one side. Any thought of sleep was entirely forgotten. Her mind and body had been awakened with the promise of something new, something unexpected, something that could be fantastic.

**Author's Note:**

> This ship popped into my head as I thought about how Christie and Deirdre were very flirty while Alak was sleeping with both of them. In season 3, Andina became Alak's love interest, and I thought she would have made a much better third person in that relationship, so here we are with this fic. Christie/Andina was fun to write and I think there's a good chance I will write more in the future.


End file.
